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Cheese from Norway

Jarlsberg

Jarlsberg is a Norwegian semi-hard cow cheese with large round holes, based on a 1956 recipe from the Agricultural University of Norway. Lactococcus bacteria sour the curd, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii turns the lactic acid into propionic acid and carbon dioxide in a warm room, which opens the eyes. The exact recipe is not published.

Fully documentedCheese3 monthstrademark; the recipe is a trade secretFamily: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)

Recipe

Jarlsberg, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Holly Cheng, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No fixed amounts recordedThe commercial recipe is a trade secret; no amounts are published.
Cow milk[wp]
Lactococcus starter[lundberg2026]
Propionibacterium freudenreichii culture[lundberg2026]
StarterLactococcus lactic starter with Propionibacterium freudenreichii

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactococcus

What changes: Lactic and propionic cultures go into the cow milk

Step 1 of 4
Add the lactic and propionic cultures
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
P. freudenreichii
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Lactococcus starts to sour the milk; propionic bacteria wait in the curd

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Jarlsberg is a Norwegian semi-hard cow cheese with large round holes, based on a 1956 recipe from the Agricultural University of Norway. Lactococcus bacteria sour the curd, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii turns the lactic acid into propionic acid and carbon dioxide in a warm room, which opens the eyes. The exact recipe is not published. Made in 4 steps over 3 months. The longest step, mature, takes at least 3 months (Wikipedia). Lactococcus and Propionibacterium freudenreichii do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[wp]Mature
Temperature20–24 °CReported[cheesescientist-jarlsberg]Warm room for the eyes

What makes this one different

Jarlsberg gets its large round eyes from Propionibacterium freudenreichii, the same propionic bacterium as Emmental, working alongside a Lactococcus starter. Its exact recipe is a trade secret, so only the cultures and the warm-room stage are publicly described.

Milk
Cow milk (Wikipedia)
Cultures
Lactococcus and Propionibacterium freudenreichii; the Lactococcus in the curd also make vitamin K2
Composition
Per 100 g, 27 g fat and 27 g protein, with 80.4 µg vitamin K2 (cheese used in a 2026 trial)
Origin
Developed at the Agricultural University of Norway by a team under Professor Ystgaard; the maker dates the recipe to 1956

Related ferments

Safety

A study of 102 Jarlsberg samples found visible moulds, 98.1 % of the isolates being Penicillium, most often P. roqueforti (Kure and Skaar 2000).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The producer says Jarlsberg is based on a secret Norwegian recipe from 1956, developed by a team under Professor Ystgaard at the Agricultural University of Norway.

  1. [lundberg2026] Lundberg H.E., Borgen T.T. et al. 2026, Jarlsberg cheese consumption is associated with favourable changes in bone turnover markers and BMD in postmenopausal women and older men, a randomised clinical trial, BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2025-001436paper
  2. [kure2000] Kure C.F., Skaar I. 2000, Mould growth on the Norwegian semi-hard cheeses Norvegia and Jarlsberg, International Journal of Food Microbiology 62:133–137, doi:10.1016/S0168-1605(00)00384-6 (abstract)paper
  3. [cheesescientist-jarlsberg] Kincaid J. 2025, Why does Jarlsberg cheese have holes? The science behind those perfect eyes, Cheese Scientistweb
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Jarlsberg cheese (outline only)wiki
  5. [tine-jarlsberg] Tine, Jarlsberg® product pageweb